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E39 (1997 - 2003) The BMW 5-Series (E39 chassis) was introduced in the United States as a 1997 model year car and lasted until the 2004 when the E60 chassis was released. The United States saw several variations including the 525i, 528i, 530i and 540i. -- View the E39 Wiki

Too hard to tell where your leak is coming from since the oil pan tilts towards the right side on the M54. If the RMS is leaking, it could end up on the right side where you have identified it. If it is any other leak towards the front of the engine, it could travel along the seam and end up there too.

My oil pan gasket leak was directly below the RMS. This is also where the distance between two oil pan bolts is the greatest.

The easiest way to see if it is the RMS or not, is to use the open port on the bottom of the bell housing. It's hard to look so take some q-tips and start swabbing around. You probably will not be able to look unless you have a tactical camera but the q-tip maybe the best method.

Clean it up well then go for a drive to see. Those auto part stores also have that fluorescent die you can use, but I would rather not go that route unless the leak was too hard to diagnose visually.

Did you fix it via the gasket cutting method?

__________________

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18." ~ Albert Einstein
BMWCCA 405578

Thanks to everyone for this thread. I just did my OFH o-ring, Vanos, and rear subframe bushings on my 232K touring, all last weekend! I was dismayed to see that my oil pan was my biggest oil leak, leaking virtually everywhere on the passenger side pan/block junction. I will properly drop the front subframe and remove the pan entirely at some point when the control arms and motor mounts need replacement. However, I wanted to present yet another option to fix this problem, and NO disassembly is necessary (other than splash shield)!!

There is a product available at many auto parts stores (and Home Depot last time I was there) called Seal All Adhesive. It's the only adhesive I've ever seen that is truly gas and oil resistant. This stuff is NO JOKE. I have used it successfully on a leaking gas tank with 100% success. I figured if it can seal a leaking gas tank, sealing a leaky oil pan gasket would be a no-brainer. I was right.

I cleaned the seam between the pan and block very thoroughly with brake cleaner. I then squeezed about half a tube of Seal All into a small container and "painted" the length of the pan/block junction with the Seal All. I used it very generously, but you shouldn't need to lay it on as thick as I did (I used only a few thin coats to seal the gas tank). I let it sit overnight and there have been no leaks since!

It dries quite hard, but you can chip it off easily with a scraper in the future if you have occasion to remove the pan and replace the gasket. I highly recommend this product! It makes a great adhesive as well.

Hey, i have that in my store!, bought 2 years ago but never get to use it, seriously, it works?, does it last?, did u seal only those section that leak? / whole section around d pan? Thanks for sharing.

You only need apply it where the pan is actually leaking. Clean the area very well with brake cleaner first. As I said, I over-applied it; however, who really cares, as no one will see it except you. The product sealed a gas tank on an Alfa Romeo that I owned and showed no signs of failure after several years.

Jason5driver,

What did I "do" to my car specifically? Your reaction makes it sound as if some permanent damage was done to the car; quite the contrary, it is preventing damage and is 100% reversible upon disassembly of the pan. I recommend everyone carry a tube of this product in the glovebox; it will stop virtually any leak that is likely to occur if on a trip or in a remote area.

As I said, this stuff is NOT epoxy or JB Weld; once you break the bond you can pull it right off with your fingers. It's a perfectly sound solution to not only keep oil off the floor, but keep it from slinging all over the bottom of the car and ruining other rubber components until one is ready to tackle the entire repair.

You are right - do it right, do it once - when other front end components are sloppy enough to warrant dropping the subframe, the gasket will be replaced in the truly proper manner - with oil pan removed. The main reason I insist on dropping it completely is I'm not going to let my old gasket disintegrate into my oil pan with no room to properly clean it out.

BTW, I work as a Mechanical Design Engineer and pride myself on being absolutely fastidious with a very high attention to to detail. I can also appreciate a no-brainer fix when it's staring me in the face. I thoroughly cleaned the whole underside of the car last weekend during the subframe bushing/oil filter housing/vanos/inspection II service. Four days later completely sanitary under there

You only need apply it where the pan is actually leaking. Clean the area very well with brake cleaner first. As I said, I over-applied it; however, who really cares, as no one will see it except you. The product sealed a gas tank on an Alfa Romeo that I owned and showed no signs of failure after several years.

Jason5driver,

What did I "do" to my car specifically? Your reaction makes it sound as if some permanent damage was done to the car; quite the contrary, it is preventing damage and is 100% reversible upon disassembly of the pan. I recommend everyone carry a tube of this product in the glovebox; it will stop virtually any leak that is likely to occur if on a trip or in a remote area.

As I said, this stuff is NOT epoxy or JB Weld; once you break the bond you can pull it right off with your fingers. It's a perfectly sound solution to not only keep oil off the floor, but keep it from slinging all over the bottom of the car and ruining other rubber components until one is ready to tackle the entire repair.

You are right - do it right, do it once - when other front end components are sloppy enough to warrant dropping the subframe, the gasket will be replaced in the truly proper manner - with oil pan removed. The main reason I insist on dropping it completely is I'm not going to let my old gasket disintegrate into my oil pan with no room to properly clean it out.

BTW, I work as a Mechanical Design Engineer and pride myself on being absolutely fastidious with a very high attention to to detail. I can also appreciate a no-brainer fix when it's staring me in the face. I thoroughly cleaned the whole underside of the car last weekend during the subframe bushing/oil filter housing/vanos/inspection II service. Four days later completely sanitary under there

I'm going to replace the oil pan gasket of my 2001 325i in two weeks based on cutting the gasket method. I will also have an opportunity to use a lift of a DIY shop. Wish me luck

I didn't cut the gasket when I did an m54-powered 325. Just brace the engine from above, disconnect the motor mounts, loosen the subframe bolts and let the subframe drop until the struts catch it and you can snake the gasket by the oil sump. The steering coupler doesn't even need to be disconnected.

I didn't cut the gasket when I did an m54-powered 325. Just brace the engine from above, disconnect the motor mounts, loosen the subframe bolts and let the subframe drop until the struts catch it and you can snake the gasket by the oil sump. The steering coupler doesn't even need to be disconnected.

I didn't cut the gasket when I did an m54-powered 325. Just brace the engine from above, disconnect the motor mounts, loosen the subframe bolts and let the subframe drop until the struts catch it and you can snake the gasket by the oil sump. The steering coupler doesn't even need to be disconnected.

Folks, I just completed the gasket replacement but had to drop the subframe. It's actually easy once the engine is lifted with the $60 brace from harborfrieght. Yes, it's easy and I see no need for taking shortcuts which I believe would in the end turn out to be a very difficult process given the tight space in the oil pan area. I had to unmount the powersteering pump (without disconnecting the hoses) and disconnect the driver side stabilizer link and control arm (easy to do and all in less than an hour).

The rubber on the old gasket was very brittle and very hard to remove such that I just can't imagine this job being done without dropping the subframe far enough. I had to put plastic paper over the open oil pan to prevent the brittle rubber from dropping into the pan while doing the difficult cleaning process.

I changed the engine mounts while at it.

After the job I treated myself to mugs of nice cold beer as there were no leaks after a long test drive.

Folks, I just completed the gasket replacement but had to drop the subframe. It's actually easy once the engine is lifted with the $60 brace from harborfrieght. Yes, it's easy and I see no need for taking shortcuts which I believe would in the end turn out to be a very difficult process given the tight space in the oil pan area. I had to unmount the powersteering pump (without disconnecting the hoses) and disconnect the driver side stabilizer link and control arm (easy to do and all in less than an hour).

The rubber on the old gasket was very brittle and very hard to remove such that I just can't imagine this job being done without dropping the subframe far enough. I had to put plastic paper over the open oil pan to prevent the brittle rubber from dropping into the pan while doing the difficult cleaning process.

I changed the engine mounts while at it.

After the job I treated myself to mugs of nice cold beer as there were no leaks after a long test drive.